Transmission Noise?

[Markb873]

Hey, I have a 1998 Escort Zx2 with the manual transmission. When I push the clutch in with the car in gear I get this vibration sounding squeak. If i move to neutral it slows down and goes away. It does not do it at all in gear with the motor connected(coasting, accelerating, cruising) It also does not do it at a standstill regardless of gear position. It seems to only do it when the gears are engaged on the input shaft with the axles turning and the clutch pushed in.

Does this sound like an input shaft bearing?

Thanks,

Mark

[AzTumbleweed]

Have you made sure the tranny is full of oil?

[chrisanthony]

Originally Posted by AzTumbleweed

Have you made sure the tranny is full of oil?

I was just going to suggest that AZ lol.
Yea make sure your transmission fluid is topped up. You can try putting in a bottle of Gunk Transmedic as well. That should make it nice and smooth.

http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brows...BTreatment.jsp

[Markb873]

Alright, checked the fluid and it's alright. It's fresh too, I just put a new engine in 6000 miles ago. Anyways, whatever the issue is it is still developing I drove to work today and the clutch wouldn't release all the way. I had to wait for the engine to slow down to shift to the next and it was brutal from a stop.

I stopped on the way for 3 minutes and when I got back in the car I made it all the way through 5th gear fine but it quit releasing all the way after that. I drove it again 4 hours later and it worked decent but not perfect. Then it drove normal on the way home 5 hours after that. Also I did not hear the noise on the way home. My commute is 50 miles round trip at 60 mph. I only come to a complete stop about 10 times round trip.

At this point i am thinking possibly a throwout bearing making the noise? It does have the factory clutch at 150,000 miles. (The first 80,000 were fairly harsh too) I'm also thinking air in the line possibly from the engine change as the clutch line was taken off. Possibly a bad slave cylinder as I have chunks of metal rusted off of the exterior of the current one?

Anyways, I will bleed the line again and see if that helps and will post back. Any ideas are welcome.

-Mark

[chrisanthony]

i wish i can help you more but my lx is auto..

[Davescort97]

You are right about a bad throwout bearing.

[Intuit]

Throwout bearing was my thought as well. When you press the clutch pedal in, it moves what looks like a big fork and that fork presses against the bearing which then presses springs for the clutch disc. All it is, is two rings pressed together with bearings in-between. It isolates the stationary fork against the spinning movement of the clutch assembly. So if it's noisy it'll probably only be noisy when you've depressed the pedal. ** Your transmission fluid is not supposed to come into contact with or lubricate this part at all; at least with the '94/'95 trans design. So changing it would have no direct affect. (indirectly that might make the transmission operate cooler)

Don't know that they necessarily have a life span so-to-speak ?? Still have my original manual transmission parts approaching 240k. Just replaced the Master and Slave clutch cylinders a few months ago.

** Mine might've made a little rattle sound when I released the clutch pedal while in neutral. (vibrating against it's "axle") Hadn't done that in years though.

[Markb873]

Hey thanks guys, now it consistantly is making the traditional "bad" throwout bearing noises i was used to. I am assuming it seized up so I couldn't shift a few days ago then managed to spin again later on, however it sounds, well, like a bad bearing now. The thing that's most irritatating was i checked the dang thing in august when I put in the new motor and it was working great then.....

Thanks,

Mark

[Intuit]

Be sure to check the springs on your clutch for damage.